Tullamore shows support for Japanese people

A BOOK of Condolence has been set up at Tullamore Town Council to show support for the people of Japan, following the devestating earthquake earlier this month.

A BOOK of Condolence has been set up at Tullamore Town Council to show support for the people of Japan, following the devestating earthquake earlier this month.

Signing the book of condolence with Chairperson of Tullamore Town Council Molly Buckley were Joey Moodley and Takashi Gushiken, both from Freund Pharmatec, Sragh Industrial Estate, Tullamore.

The March 11 earthquake caused a 23.6-metre-high tsunami in parts of northeast Japan. The giant wave hit the town of Ofunato in Iwate prefecture following a magnitude 9 earthquake.

9,700 are confirmed dead and another 16,501 people are reported missing.

One of the of the hardest-hit prefectures, Miyagi, estimates that the deaths will top 15,000 in that region alone.

This crisis is emerging as the world’s most expensive natural disaster on record, likely to cost up to $309 billion, according to a new Japanese government estimate.

Hundreds of thousands are homeless, squeezed into temporary shelters without heat, warm food or medicine and no idea what to call home after the colossal wave swallowed up cities and towns along the coast.

The radiation leakage is posing substantial threat to dwellers in the vicinity of the nuclear plant. A spike in radiation levels in Tokyo tap water has spurred new fears about food safety. Radiation has seeped into vegetables, raw milk, the water supply and seawater.

Cllr Buckley said “our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan as they struggle to come to terms with this disaster.”

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